“What’s more fun than going the complete opposite color?,” Ess tells PeopleStyle of the star’s bold new hue. “We just wanted to do something fun while she’s not filming. She has a short break. She just finished her new movie, Dude, where she has super-long, dark hair and goes back to [Pretty Little Liars] in a few weeks for which she’ll have to go back to brown with highlights.”

The icy, almost-platinum shade was chosen “based on what would look best on [Hale]” and is a few shades lighter than her most recent face-framing, honey-hued ombré highlights, which took about two hours (and six hours the first time) to complete.

“We’ve done the blonde twice now,” Ess says. “The first time you can only get so blonde from dark without any damage. The second time was to create those bright pops of blonde.”

RELATED VIDEO: Lucy Hale: Embrace Your Flaws

The star’s previous strawberry blonde switch-up, as Ess described as “a summery shade that works with her tones,” was created to match the star’s signature brows (and her deep brown root), which they wanted to keep dark, Ess told PeopleStyle. And it seems the arch rule was still in full effect during this salon sesh, as Hale’s brows are just as bold.

“When someone has dark bold brows like Lucy, you have to keep a little bit of a natural root in there,” she says.

Although Hale said her most recent mane changes were “temporary,” she said she wanted to have fun with color while she could, and Ess tells PeopleStyle she totally is. “[Lucy] just keeps saying how much she loves [her hair] and never thought she could be blonde like this,” she said.

So does this mean she’s veering into rainbow hair land? First comes platinum and then comes color…

What do you think of Lucy’s bright new hue? Are you a fan? Share below!

–Sarah Kinonen, with reporting by Jackie Fields

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